Want stronger bones? Check your diet and diet. exercise

Researchers have found that diet has a greater impact on bone mass and strength than physical activity when looking at mineral supplementation and exercise in mice. In the study, even after the training was over, the mice retained bone strength as long as they ate a mineral-supplemented diet, Xinhua reported. "Longer-term mineral-enriched nutrition not only leads to an increase in bone mass and strength, but also to the ability to sustain that after weaning," said David Kohn, a professor at the University of Michigan, USA.

An important finding is that the diet alone has positive effects on the bones even without training.

"The data suggest that long-term consumption of minerals-enriched food can also prevent the loss of bones and strength with age when you're not exercising," said Kohn.

While most studies look at the effects of increasing dietary calcium, the new study, published in the journal PLOS One, investigated the benefits of increasing calcium and phosphorus benefits to increase both.

This is not to suggest that people go out and buy calcium and phosphorus supplements, Kohn said.

Although the findings do not translate directly from mice to humans, they give researchers a unique place to start, the team noted.

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)